AWP NY

Allison Titus and Joshua Poteat hold down the Black Ocean table.

This machine broke a few hearts and fulfilled a few dreams. Mostly the dream was gumballs, but a couple folks got a free Black Ocean book. Nobody really died.


Facing camera left to right: Janaka Stucky, Paige Ackerson-Kiely, DJ Dolack
In mirror left to right: Allison Titus, Heather Overby, me, Joshua Poteat



Rauan Klassnik and Janaka Stucky are thrilled about Holy Land. Me, too.


On our way to the Steal This Reading reading

Susan McCarty at the "Steal This Reading" afterparty.

on our way to the Starcherone reading at KGB bar

I saw Charles Simic and James Tate and John Ashbery and Russell Edson all sitting at the same table, and then I got to participate in a standing ovation for Russell Edson. It was, to say the least, one of my top three favorite standing ovations of all time.

I went to panels. I heard Li-Young Lee and the Copper Canyon poets readings on site and the Steal this Reading poets and the Starcherone authors at a couple Brooklyn sites. I saw scads of old friends and some folks I'm more recently fond of.

Plus I scored:
Go Home and Go to Bed! Mary Ruefle's new comic from Pilot
Realm Sixty-Four Kristi Maxwell
Holy Land Rauan Klassnik
Quinnehtukqut Joshua Harmon
The Battlefield Where the Moon Says I Love You Frank Stanford
The Little Book of Guesses John Gallaher
My Soviet Union Michael Dumanis
American Music Chris Martin (Actually, I bought this a couple weeks back at Elliot Bay Book Co in Seattle, but it's awesome and I'da bought it at AWP if I hadn't)

I left for my 4:30 AM airport shuttle exhausted, overwhelmed and completely (slap)happy.